Residents welcome Aurora Bridge barrier

But structure to foil suicide jumpers would costs millions to build

By CASEY MCNERTHNEY, P-I REPORTER

Published 10:00 pm, Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Ruvane Richman saw the first jumper about 15 years ago, soaked and struggling under the Aurora Bridge. But when Richman tried to save the distraught man, he flipped Richman's kayak and pushed him under water.

Others jumpers have struggled to Richman's houseboat missing an eye or a limb. Some have landed on concrete near his car. When he hears a loud noise, he sometimes wonders if a jumper crashed onto his roof.

"That's why I think this barrier is a good idea," said Richman, one of about 70 people who gave state and city officials input Wednesday on a proposed barrier on Seattle's most popular suicide bridge. "The only frustration is, when is it going to get done?"

State Department of Transportation officials hope to begin construction in summer 2009 on an 8-foot barrier to prevent jumpers. Ideally, they say the project -- one that's long overdue, City Councilwoman Jan Drago said -- would be completed the following spring. Wednesday's workshop in Fremont was the first chance for neighbors to tell the department what they want.

Dozens had experiences such as Richman's and want the project to hurry along. Some were concerned about aesthetics and construction noise. Others wondered why the safety measures cost so much.

Last month, Gov. Chris Gregoire put $1.4 million in her supplemental budget proposal for the barrier. Transportation officials and crisis counselors hope the other $2.9 million in the barrier's preliminary design and construction estimate, and $3.2 million more for new bridge lighting, will be passed in a later session.

"It's not a matter of just putting a railing up," Transportation spokesman Greg Phipps said. "You don't go to Home Depot and buy one of these things."

The estimate includes permits, labor and product costs as well as special design planning, he said. City and state officials said the project is expected to take months to complete, in part because crews need to work around traffic. More than 100,000 vehicles cross the bridge daily.

Since the first jumper leapt from the span in January 1932, a month before the bridge officially opened, more than 230 people have jumped, including a former SeaTac City Council member.

Jack Stuart Jr. jumped over the rail Friday the 13th in September 1974 -- driven to despair over a failing marriage. He survived but lost sight in his right eye.

Today, the 71-year-old applauds the suicide-barrier plan. "A tall fence that prohibits a person from doing it might give him a chance to think things over a bit."